Bernie Crane
Communications Fellow
This story comes to us from Ted, a longtime EV owner in Chicago, Illinois.
A lot of people think you need to own a home to own an electric vehicle (EV). I’ve been renting in Chicago for years, and I’m here to tell you that’s just not true. Before purchasing my current car over four years ago, I did a lot of research to understand what the best car was for my needs. Now, all this time later, I am happier than I could’ve imagined with my decision to purchase an electric vehicle. I want to share my experiences with other folks who are thinking about making the switch to an EV but think that EVs are for not for them!
Charging my EV
One of the most common questions I get asked, especially as someone who rents, is “How do you charge your car, and is charging an issue?” First and foremost, charging for me has not been an issue. In fact, it has been amazing! Charging saves a lot of money compared to the cost of gas with my previous cars. One of the biggest pieces of advice I would give to a renter looking to purchase an EV is to try and charge “opportunistically.” Meaning, making use of all of the different types of public charging options available to you in your community. For example, if you’re a renter in a city like me, chances are you have a garage either at home or at work where you park your car. Even if the garage doesn’t have a designated EV charging station (which many places now do), you can still take advantage of level 1 charging. All you need is a regular old outlet and your charger, and you’re good to go! You can plug in and charge while you work or while you sleep, and with even the lowest level of charging, you will likely cover your daily commute and change.
Other ways to charge opportunistically include going to the grocery store, going out to eat, going out to the movies, or any other time you’re planning to be parked for an extended period of time. By using free services like PlugShare, you can find chargers near where you eat, shop, and hang out that you can plug into while you’re out and about. Thanks to all of these charging avenues, when people ask me how long it takes to charge, my response is, in all honesty, “5 seconds.” Because to me it really does feel like 5 seconds, because while my car is charging, I am out doing what I would normally do. Whether I am at home relaxing, out to dinner with friends, or running errands on the weekend, charging my car doesn’t require me to go out of my way or inconvenience myself. On the contrary, it fits into my life seamlessly, and when I take this opportunistic charging mindset with me, I find that running out of charge is the least of my problems.
The bottom line: compared to my old gas car, I am saving 60% on fuel expenses when I compare what I used to spend on gas to the current cost of charging my EV. The average EV range is 300 miles, with some going as high as 400 if you do your research and find a car that fits your needs. Not only should charging not be a problem, but it can also be a source of cost savings for you in your commute.
Road Trips
Again, the average EV now has a range of 300 miles, but as someone who loves to go on trips in my EV that can be as far as 2000 miles, I know that many people are worried about if their car will have enough range to make these long-haul trips. Not only has my experience with road trips in an EV not been more difficult than the same drives with my gas-powered car, but honestly, they haven’t taken any longer and are more enjoyable too.
I understand why people are skeptical about my road trips in an EV taking the same or slightly less time than they did in a gas-powered car, given charging clearly takes longer than filling up your gas tank, but that being said, how often on a long trip are you just stopping for gas? Most of the time you’re getting up to grab food, use the restroom, and stretch your legs after hours on the road. What I’ve found is that my stops haven’t lasted so much longer than they did before. What’s more, the extra time that charging my EV does take compared to filling up a gas tank gives me a few extra minutes every few hours to walk around and have a bite to eat. This time to stretch and feel like a person again rejuvenates me enough that in my EV I can drive for 4-6 hours longer on average than I could in my gas car. Meaning that in the end, even with the additional stops to charge, I usually end up making it to my destination in the same time or a little bit quicker in my EV.
The bottom line: I have driven from Chicago to LA, Montreal, Arizona, and more while saving money on fuel costs and getting to my destination quicker thanks to my EV. Also, you don’t need to charge up to 100% on your trips. I frequently leave the station with a charge of 80% or less, and this is because you can think of your car’s battery a lot like a movie theater. When the movie theater is relatively empty, it’s easy for you to find a seat, but as it fills up, it is harder and takes a bit longer. The same concept can be applied to electrons trying to find places to charge your car’s battery. So, when you’re on a long drive, charge enough to reach the next station and then hit the road.
Maintenance & up-front costs
Two other concerns that I hear often from folks interested in going electric are related to cost. One being the cost of maintenance and the other being the upfront cost of an EV. I don’t want to dismiss concerns about these things being barriers to entry for EV ownership, but there are other factors to consider. First, the market for EVs is still developing, and I have had friends recently who purchased a used Chevy Bolt for $14,000, and they qualified for the $4000 dollar federal incentive, which dropped the cost down to $10,000—comparable to a used gas-powered car.
EV batteries are expensive, no doubt about that. Estimates to replace my car’s battery are $12k-15k, which isn’t a small cost. Thankfully, batteries often have their own warranties, generally around 8-10 years, depending on which make and model you have. Furthermore, from a holistic perspective, even if I were to replace my battery outside of warranty, given how much money I have saved on gas over the years, I am at worst breaking even on my cost savings, and if you are someone who charges from home, that break-even point will be reached even faster.
The bottom line: Buying a new car is undoubtedly expensive whether you go electric or not, but the long-term cost of that choice differs drastically depending on which you choose. While batteries can be costly, many are well covered by warranties and have their costs offset by the amount you will save on gas and other maintenance costs.
Going electric has been an amazing decision, and as someone who doesn’t own a home, loves to go on long road trips, and is very conscious of cost, I cannot recommend purchasing an EV enough.
Going electric has been an amazing decision, and as someone who doesn’t own a home, loves to go on long road trips, and is very conscious of cost, I cannot recommend purchasing an EV enough.
